CHAPTER SEVEN

The week passed by fast and it was already Saturday. Hyukjae welcomed the weekend by grabbing his books, since he was so focused on being a boyfriend the past few days, a real one. It’s not that he regretted it. He actually enjoyed those moments. But he must not forget his goal of entering KNU with a full scholarship written on his name.

He had to admit that he was naturally happy this week. Donghae was happy, too. He kept smiling every time they’re showing of their act.  Hyuk finds it rather strange because doesn’t know the reason behind Hae’s happiness. Maybe it was because Siwon was finally showing signs of jealousy? Or maybe it was all just pure acting? But still, Hyuk had this little space in his brain saying that Donghae was happy because of being with him. Of course, that was highly irrational.

Actually, it is a rational thought. But just yesterday after last period Donghae run up to Hyukjae and told him that Siwon asked him out for a study date this Saturday, hence, today. Donghae emphasized the word ‘study’ to him. Hyukjae smiled a bit for the silent consideration from Donghae about his feelings but Hyuk knows how excited Donghae must be deep inside. And once again, he got slapped by reality. So yes, it is an irrational thought to think Donghae was happy because of him.

 From 8 AM to 12 NN, Hyukjae drowned himself in books. He did projects and studied in advance. He did everything he can to keep his thoughts away from thinking of what’s happening with Donghae’s and Siwon’s date right now.

He was still reading on his bed when he heard scratches coming from outside his bedroom door and a bark. Hyukjae smiled and got out of bed. He made his way to the door and opened it. He stared down and saw Choco. His smile got even wider and he bent down to face Choco a bit more.

Choco could always light up Hyukjae’s mood. She is a sweetheart. She knows when Hyukjae is sad or uncomfortable or afraid and she always comes near him during those hard times.

“What are you doing here, princess?” he asked and attempted to lift Choco up from the floor. Choco wiggled out of Hyuk’s hand and barked repeatedly.

Hyukjae was surprised on how Choco was acting. He tried lifting her up again and she wiggled once again and barked multiple times. Choco suddenly ran down the stairs without any notice. Hyukjae had no choice but to follow because of his worry. Choco doesn’t usually act like that.

He ran down the stairs, “Choco! Wait for me, girl---” he stopped what he was saying when he looked up from his steps and saw where Choco went. She was being pet by a guy wearing a white shirt under an oversized gray jacket and sweatpants. The guy looked up, saw Hyukjae and smiled innocently at him.

Hyukjae blinked for a while, not saying anything. Was he seeing a hologram of Donghae petting Choco? Or was he imagining it? He shook his head hard and tried to see if he disappears. Fortunately, he was still there.

Still not believing it, Hyukjae chuckled a bit, “Are you really here or are you just a pigment of my imagination?”

Donghae gently put down Choco on the ground and stood up, smiling, “I’m really here, Hyuk,” he said and made his way in front of Hyukjae. He slapped Hyuk’s cheek playfully and laughed a bit, “See? I’m not just your imagination, idiot.”

Hyukjae laughed and looked at the side, embarrassed. He suddenly thought about Siwon. He thought they had a date today. Did he bail Siwon for him, again?

“What the hell are you doing here, Donghae? Don’t you have a date with Siwon?” Hyukjae said and started to walk to the sofa. He plunged himself on it and Donghae did the same, sitting next to him.

Donghae rolled his eyes, “Okay, first of all, it’s not a date. It’s a study session,” he defended.

Hyukjae raised a brow, “Study session?” he asked jokingly.

“Yes. It’s not really a formal thing,” Donghae said, “Second, Siwon said he couldn’t make it today because he had a surprise church thing,” Hae said and smiled, “You know that person and his religious beliefs.”

Hyukjae smiled and nodded. So Siwon was the one who bailed him. He felt a mix of feelings exploded inside of him. He got pissed at Siwon because he ditched Donghae; but it had an acceptable reason so it lessened the irritation. He felt happy that Donghae chose to be with him if he wasn’t with Siwon. Even though he was just a second choice, which he knows he will always be, he was genuinely glad he was with Donghae inside his house.

Hyukjae suddenly thought of something and gasped, “How the hell did you enter my house?!?” he exclaimed loudly and slapped Donghae’s arm.

Donghae smiled, “I went here when mom was heading out. She said to me that you’re still inside your room, asleep, studying or dead,” he laughed aloud, “She told me to go get you from your room and she left. I knew if I were to wake you up, I’ll just join you on sleeping so I got Choco to go to your room and fetch you because I know you can’t resist her.”

Hyukjae snickered humorously. Donghae had always called Hyuk’s mom as his mom, too.  He sighed at Hae’s statement and asked, “So, what do you plan to do in here?”

Donghae shook his head, “Nothing,” he said.

Hyukjae stared at him blankly, “Huh?”

“We’re not staying here. We’re going out,” Hae said confidently.

Hyukjae blinked a few times before analyzing what Donghae said, “Wait, we?”

Donghae nodded, “Yes, we are going out today,” he stood up and offered Hyuk his hand, “So get up and get showered. You are not going out smelling like that,” he laughed.

Hyukjae took Donghae’s hands and Hae helped him stand up. Hyuk felt butterflies at their hands’ contact. He smirked, not letting go of Donghae’s hand, “Smelling like what?”

Donghae’s face went nearer Hyukjae’s, teasing him with a smug smile, “Like natto beans put in a jar of pickle juice and poured over Shindong hyung’s gym socks,” he joked.

Hyukjae’s face turned wicked, “Oh yeah?” he became daring and closed their gap even more. Donghae did the same until their nose had touched. Hyukjae didn’t want to move. He loved feeling the warmth of Donghae’s breaths. But he knew he shouldn’t be obvious about it. So he kept his stares intense, playing with Donghae.

Donghae gulped a bit, enough for Hyukjae to hear. Hyuk smiled more victoriously and said, “You better apologize and take back what you said, Lee Donghae,” his tone sounded dark, “On the count of three.”

“Wh-what are you going to do?” Donghae stuttered.

“One,” Hyukjae said.

“Hyukjae, what are you doing?” Donghae worriedly said, trembling a bit.

“Two.”

Donghae suddenly moved away and started running upstairs, laughing like a kid. Hyukjae smiled hearing Donghae’s laughs, “Three,” he said and ran upstairs, following where Donghae’s laughs could be heard.

He hears the sound from the bathroom across his room and ran to it. The door was opened so he looked inside. Donghae suddenly burst out of it before Hyuk even saw him and made his way to Hyukjae’s bedroom, closing the door. Hyukjae let out a curse and ran to his parents’ room, grabbing the key of his room. He went out of the room, closed the door and ran to his bedroom door.

He opened it and heard Donghae scream a bit in surprise. Hyukjae laughed and immediately saw Donghae on his bed, just sitting there thinking that he was already safe because he had locked the door. Hyukjae ran to him and jumped on him, trapping Donghae on the bed. Donghae tried to struggle but Hyukjae was too strong. They ended up laughing.

Donghae looked at Hyukjae, “Okay! I’m sorry. You don’t smell like that. Please get off me,” he said with pleading eyes while he was still laughing.

Hyuk shook his head, “No can do, Donghae,” he chuckled, “I need a better apology.”

Donghae grunted, “You really want to know what you smell like? Okay, I’ll tell you,” he started to get serious, “You smell like you. Those strong men’s shampoo, mild shaving cream and strawberry body wash were all combined to create your scent. And I had appreciated it ever since you had started using it. So believe me when I say you don’t smell like what I said earlier,” he begged.

Hyukjae started feeling tingly inside with Donghae’s small compliment and felt a bit weaker than usual. He used all his strength to stand up from lying on top of Donghae. Donghae also sat up from lying down, sitting on the side of the bed.

Hyukjae smiled at him, “You described my scent well,” he joked.

“Well, I do notice every little thing about you,” Donghae said and chuckled.

Hyukjae felt a garden filled with butterflies again in his stomach. He knows Donghae focuses on everyone’s little things but there was something in the way Hae had said it that made him feel special.

Hyuk walked up to his closet and grabbed his towel, “I’m going to shower and I’ll put as much scent on my body as I can,” he looked at Donghae and showed his gummy smile.

“Extra strawberry, please,” Donghae said and laughed.

+++

“I can’t believe you’re making me wear this” Hyuk grunted.

They just got outside the gates of Hyukjae’s house. After showering, Hyukjae couldn’t decide what to wear. So Donghae started grabbing random stuff from his closet, taking them around 45 minutes just to get dressed. He finally ended up wearing black skinny jeans, black skin-fitting muscle tee and putting a loose red one on top. Hae styled his hair up and made him wear black shades.

Donghae laughed, “You look good,” he exclaimed.

“I look provocative,” Hyuk said and sighed.

“Yeah, you do,” Donghae smirked and Hyuk felt his heart beat.

Hyukjae shook his arms a bit, “I have never flaunted my arms free like this. I feel so exposed,” he said, referring to the lack of sleeves.

“Why do you have muscle tees in your closet, then?” Hae asked.

“I use them for gym classes,” Hyukjae pouted and Donghae laughed at him. He just sighed and asked Donghae, “So, where are we going?”

Donghae shrugged, “I don’t know,” he said casually and started walking.

Hyukjae matched his pace and slightly slapped his arm, “What do you mean you don’t know? You’re the one who invited me here!”

Donghae laughed, “I haven’t really thought it through,” he said.

Hyukjae rolled his eyes, “No kidding, you haven’t thought it through,” he sighed, “Now, we have nothing to do.”

They walked and walked until they reach a corner with two ways, right or left.

Hyukjae looked at Donghae, “Where do we go?”

Donghae’s face suddenly lit up. He had an idea. He grabbed a coin from his pocket and looked at it, “We go wherever this coin will take us.”

Hyukjae looked at him, confused. Donghae rolled his eyes and explained, “Heads is for right and tails is for left,” he tossed the coin way up before Hyuk could even understand what he was up to and caught it while it was falling down. He slapped it on his arm and it faced heads, “We go to the right,” he said and led Hyukjae to the right side of the two-way road.

Hyukjae smiled, “Where did you get this genius idea?”

Donghae smiled, “Found it on the internet,” he said and shrugged.

“No wonder. It doesn’t seem like you if you thought about that yourself,” Hyukjae joked, earning a stinging slap from Donghae.

“You just love teasing me, don’t you?” Hae asked while laughing.

“Yes, I do love you,” Hyukjae suddenly said and his eyes widened. He slipped. He mentally cursed himself for doing so, “I mean I do love teasing you. I just forgot the ‘teasing’ part,” he excused.

Donghae just laughed at Hyuk’s awkwardness and didn’t answer. Hyukjae bit his lips and silently sighed. He’s safe. His secret is safe. They reach another corner and stopped. Donghae threw the coin again, his arm still clinging at Hyukjae’s, and it faced heads again. So, they headed right.

After a few minutes of walking, they still hadn’t decided where to go even after passing through a lot of stores and shops. Donghae grunted, “Ugh, there’s nowhere to go.”

“Why didn’t we just go rent a movie and then watch it at home?” Hyukjae asked.

“Because that would be boring,” Donghae said, “Besides, you need to go out more. Mom said so. She told me to take you out of the house.”

Hyukjae shook his head, “You should really stop calling my mother ‘mom’. It’s really confusing whether you’re talking about your mom or my mom,” he said.

Donghae shrugged innocently, “I’m used to it. And don’t act like you hadn’t called my mother ‘mom’,” he said.

Hyukjae smiled, “I said it once for a joke. Jeez, you remember that? That was like 5 years ago.”

“Why would I forget that? You called my mother ‘mom’. That’s really weird but normal,” Donghae smiled.

Hyukjae nodded, “Yeah, I hope you understand that I feel awkward with it.”

“Well, you shouldn’t. Your mom and my mom, they’re practically sisters now. They go to spas and knit together,” Donghae laughed.

Hyukjae pouted, “Still, it is weird.”

“Just think of them as in-laws and we’re technically allowed to call them as our moms,” Hae said casually.

Hyukjae got a bit flattered and a bit confused. Who was who? He was about to say something when Donghae suddenly hit his arm repeatedly, “Look! An arcade!” Hae said, held Hyukjae’s hand and pulled him inside the place.

Hyukjae’s eyes had a hard time adjusting to the lighting of the area. It was dark but the screens of the games kept flashing and flashing, which made it bright. He sighed, took off his shades to completely adjust to the lights and looked at Donghae. Donghae was already searching for a game to play, still holding Hyuk’s hand.

“Donghae, do you really want to play here? We could go somewhe---”

Donghae cut Hyukjae off by pulling him again to a ‘Just Dance’ machine. They’re given a song and steps of it are shown on-screen and they need to copy those steps the best they can. Donghae had always been a dancer so he loved stuff like this. On the other hand, Hyukjae is still not used to dancing so he’s pretty nervous even when he’s just in front of the machine.

Donghae grabbed tokens from his bag. Hyukjae stared at him weirdly, “Why do you already have tokens in your bag?” he asked.

“My friends and I usually come here before and I collect tokens,” he said while putting some inside the token slot.

“You and your friends, huh? I feel a bit left out,” Hyuk said and pouted.

Donghae smiled at Hyukjae’s sentence. After putting the needed tokens, he attacked Hyukjae with a hug, “Aw. My boyfie is jealous,” he said cutely.

Hyukjae felt fuzzy. Boyfie? He felt his heart turn into a drum for the nth time this week; but this time, it was pounding the hardest. There was nobody to act for. The two of them were alone with these strangers that don’t give any about them. He would’ve understood it if it was some friendly gesture but Donghae said ‘boyfie’.  Why would Donghae act like that?

Hyukjae hesitantly hugged back and asked, “Donghae, what happened to rule number 1?”

Donghae hummed, still hugging Hyukjae, “What rule number 1?” he asked, confused.

Hyukjae got shocked. Donghae was the one who created those rules yet he’s the one who’s breaking them. He felt like Donghae wasn’t just in his proper mind; that’s why he said those words. Hyuk knows he should remind Donghae about their rules. It would be the right thing to do.

But Hyuk chose to listen to his heart drumming the bass of his favorite song and said, “Never mind,” he smiled and their game started.

+++

“I told you she’s eventually going to quit,” Hyukjae said.

“She didn’t quit! She was kicked out by that stupid Aubrey girl,” Donghae protested.

“Still, she’s out of the group,” Hyukjae said.

After dancing for about an hour, they went out for a late lunch. They eventually decided to rent a movie and watch them at Hyukjae’s house. Once they reached the movie rental house, they started bickering over what movies to watch. Donghae insisted on “The Fault in our Stars” because he wanted to cry while Hyukjae wanted to watch “Pitch Perfect”. They rented both movies and some more and went out to buy food.

They’re now seated on the couch, eating a can of Pringles and watching Pitch Perfect. They’re on the part where Beca, the main character, gets kicked out of her a cappella group, the Barden Bellas, because of her impromptu addition to their performance.

“This is a horrible movie,” Donghae said.

“No, it’s not! I love a cappella. They use their mouths to create music, no other instruments or technologies required. It’s awesome,” Hyukjae defended.

“I’m all out for a cappella, really. I’m just saying the movie’s bad,” Hae chuckled, “But I do love the songs they sing,” he said.

Hyukjae put his arm around Donghae and Donghae rested his head on Hyuk’s shoulder. It made Hyuk’s stomach wild, “You haven’t heard their best songs yet. Wait ‘til you hear their ‘Just the way you are’ and ‘Just a dream’ mash-up,” Hyukjae smiled.

“Just the way you are? Oh, I love Bruno Mars!” Hae giggled.

“Yeah, well I love Anna Kendrick,” Hyukjae chuckled, referring to the actress portraying Beca in the movie.

Donghae hit him repeatedly, “You’re just watching this because you like Anna Kendrick?” he said and hit Hyuk harder, “Ugh, I hate you,” he stopped hitting and pouted.

Hyukjae wrapped his arms around Donghae tightly and nuzzled his nose on Hae’s cheek, “Are you getting jealous?”

Donghae rolled his eyes and tried to stay away from Hyuk, but failed, “You’re not the only one allowed to be jealous, you know.”

“Hae, I was jealous about you hanging out with your other friends. It’s a completely different thing. And besides, she’s a celebrity. She wouldn’t know me even if I become one. She’s in Hollywood,” Hyukjae said, his face still close to Donghae.

And Hyukjae was apologizing, the song he was talking about started playing.

When I see your face (So I travel back down that road. Will she come back? No one knows)

There’s not a thing that I would change (I realize, yeah, it was only just a dream)

‘Cause you’re amazing just the way you are (It was only just a dream)

When I see your face (Face)

Hyukjae took a look at Donghae after the song had finished, his expression completely changed from jealous to moved. He was near to tears.

“That was amazing,” Donghae said.

Hyukjae smiled, “See? Wait until they perform their nationals’ performance. It’s the best mash up ever.”

Donghae shook his head, “No, seriously. That was like a song angels were singing.”

Hyukjae laughed at Donghae’s reaction. He had the same reaction when he first heard of the song, too. Donghae glared at him and rolled his eyes.

 “I’m still mad at you, though,” he pouted a bit, acting angry.

Hyukjae chuckled a bit, “How can I prove to you that I’m sorry?”

Donghae tilted his head a bit, “Well, Anna Kendrick is a good singer.”

Hyukjae bit Donghae’s ear, which made Donghae yelp, “See! I told you, she’s really charming.”

Donghae laughed and suddenly got serious, “Hyukjae, what if I asked you to do me a favor, would you do it?”

Hyukjae hummed, “Depends on the favor,” he laughed, “Just kidding. What is it?”

Donghae thought for a bit, “Audition for the school play?” he smiled.

Hyukjae shook his head, “Oh, this again,” he laughed.

Donghae faced Hyukjae, “Come on, Hyuk. You know you want to. Plus the script is really wonderful. I read it so many times already. It’s like a novel,” he said dreamily.

“It’s derived from the Peter Pan movie, Hae. It’s not original,” Hyuk said.

Donghae pointed at him, “Aha! You did read the script! I knew you still had interest in it,” he said proudly.

Hyukjae won’t lie. He had also checked out the script online. He knew it was familiar. He remembers the “kiss scene” and the “thimble scene” very well.

Hyuk smirked, “Yeah, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to audition.”

He shook Hyukjae, “Come on, Hyukkie. Please? I’ll support you on the auditions. Like I do every year,” he said and hugged Hyukjae and put his head on Hyuk’s chest.

Hyukjae’s feelings exploded. From being called ‘Hyukkie’ to Hae’s head on his chest. He could get used to this.

If he was honest, Hyukjae has thought about this auditions a lot lately, more than he should have. He thought about his possible roles if Siwon got the lead role. He could be Captain Hook, which will make him look weird. He could be one of Wendy’s brothers, which was a good role. He could be one of the pirates, which was a bit weirder than Captain Hook’s part.

He knows he’s better than letting his insecurities get the best of him. He loves acting. He, again, followed his heart.

He looked at Donghae, “What’s in it for you, anyway? If you’re asking me for a favor, it should benefit you at some point, right?”

Donghae looked up and thought for a moment, “I’ll have the right to brag about my boyfriend,” he laughed.

“I’ll audition,” Hyuk said instantly and smiled.

Donghae tightened his hug even more. Hyukjae was about to explode again. He was feeling so light. He was feeling so immune. Donghae made him immune from anything bad.

Donghae squealed a bit, “You’ll be the best Peter Pan the world will ever see,” he smiled.

 “What if I don’t get the lead role?” Hyukjae asked.

“What? Impossible! You’re way better than Siwon in acting and I think he will look better as Captain Hook. You don’t look like a pirate,” Hae said and laughed.

Hyukjae got flattered. Donghae was so sure about him getting the lead role. And that was enough for him. He finally has something above Siwon in Donghae’s eyes.

Hyukjae held Hae tighter, “What about Wendy, Peter’s love interest?”

Donghae bit his lower lip, “Oh, that’s right. He has a love interest,” he suddenly looked unsure.

Hyukjae looked at Donghae and Donghae did the same, “You won’t get jealous, right Hae?”

Donghae smiled a bit, “I’ll try not to,” he said and winked. They both laughed and focused back on screen, waiting for the Bellas’ nationals’ performance.

Hyukjae stared outside their window and saw the sky was cloud-free and filled with stars. He smiled gently, thanking them for letting Donghae be his for the day. His heart had never pounded like this and he had never been happier being with Donghae before. He loved how Donghae acted today and hoped that it wasn’t an act and that they’ll stay like this. No other interruptions or barriers or commercials. He wanted to be with him.

Hyukjae stared at the moon and looked at the stars around it, “Second to the right and then straight on till morning,” he thought, “I’ll meet you in Neverland soon, Donghae. And we’ll never be apart. Never.”

===

[A/N] 
Yayyy update. haha BTW Thank you for 140+ subs <3 <3 <3 <3
This is a really weird chapter. I had writer's block the whole time. So forgive me if I keep releasing crappy chapters recently.

I included the movie "Pitch Perfect" in this one because its sequel, "Pitch Perfect 2" was incredible <3 <3 <3 <3 I loved their composed song entitled "Flashlight" (Jessie J released its single) 
While writing this chapter, I keep getting distracted and searching for Pitch Perfect and Pitch Perfect 2 songs ugh.
So yeah, forgive me if you can't relate to it. But it's reaaaally good. If you haven't watched it yet, YOU SHOULD WATCH IT AND PREPARE TO GET PITCH SLAPPED. (My favorite character is Fat Amy haha)

So for anyone who wants to get introduced to Pitch Perfect, here is their mash up (Just the way you are xx Just a dream) I included in this chapter. Join me in this aca-mazing a cappella experience. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlFVbUZl6O0

Let me hear your thoughts on this crappy chapter (and let me know if you're as addicted to Pitch Perfect and A Cappella as me! Pentatonix, anyone? *0*)

This note is too long haha. 

xoxoxo
--smiling angel--