Hyukjae patted Donghae’s shoulder gently. 

 

"Baby."

 

"Hm?"

 

"I'm going now."

 

"Oh?" Donghae's eyes were still closed. He stretched his body. "Why so early..."

 

"You know how it is. Gotta have everything ready."

 

Donghae pouted. 

 

"Eat something, okay?"

 

"I know. See you there?"

 

"Hm. Love you. Good luck."

 

Hyukjae pecked his cheek. Donghae went back to sleep.

 

Eight hours later, Donghae arrived in his car. He was wearing some nice dark clothes and a mask. Even though he wasn't in the entertainment industry anymore, people still recognized him sometimes. He didn't want to catch people's attention, especially not on one of Hyukjae's concert days. He had been working nonstop during the past months, planning and organizing everything so the concert was perfect.

 

Hyukjae took off his sweatshirt, leaving him in a black T-shirt,  and drank water from his bottle. He had been pacing back and forth all day. He wanted to supervise every last detail, and tried to make all directions clear to the staff by the time the concert started. 

 

After Super Junior ended their contracts, Hyukjae knew what he wanted to do. He had already directed concerts in his singing career, and he was confident he was good at it: the lighting, the staging, he knew what he wanted. He could be even better if he was completely dedicated to it. Fortunately, he had already managed to make a reputation for himself and got several opportunities to direct concerts of new groups in different companies. Years passed and Hyukjae still pushed himself to try new things, new concepts and approaches. Everyone could see how his efforts paid off.  

 

Donghae entered through the back entrance. A security guard was standing next to the door.

 

"Name?"

 

"Lee Donghae." The guard checked his list and pulled out a bunch of tags from his pocket. He handed him a staff tag to hang around his neck. Director's assistant. Donghae smiled. "Thank you."

 

He walked quickly to the waiting room, taking off his mask on the way. There was an hour left before the concert started, Hyukjae was probably busy, but he was going to get in there at some point. He sat down to wait patiently. The staff greeted him from time to time and Donghae smiled at them, they were already used to seeing him there.

 

Donghae had chosen to stay away from the spotlight those last few years. He did compose music in his free time, but his full time job was his cafe. He started having a more stable presence there, managing shipments and new products. Sometimes he worked as a barista if someone wasn’t able to work their shift. Hyukjae’s concerts were a totally different scene, but it was so familiar, for Donghae it felt like going back to his old routine and as a completely new experience at the same time.

 

Just a few minutes later, he saw his boyfriend walk in while talking to a lady from the staff. He was wearing a slightly tight t-shirt and comfortable light wash jeans. His hair, a bit long, was covered by a cap.

 

"And when the next chorus starts, right there I want the stage to go up. Right when they start singing," he indicated the beat with his hands. The woman nodded and left the room. Another person came up to ask him a question and Hyukjae just gestured the number four with his hand after hearing his brief question. The man nodded and also walked out of the room.

 

Donghae watched him intently. He looked so focused, it was fascinating. Donghae always knew that Hyukjae would achieve great things. In whatever he set his mind to. And it filled him with pride to see him so happy after a completed tour. Not because he took any credit for his success, but because he couldn't help but remember their early years as trainees. They weren't sure of anything, didn’t know what the future would bring, but Hyukjae would always give his best. And now he had been doing what he loved and giving his best with a new sense of purpose for years. He was just happy to see him setting new exciting goals, always trying to grow.

 

Their gazes met and Donghae smiled. He waved at him. Hyukjae took advantage of the fact that he wasn't doing anything at the moment and sat next to his boyfriend.

 

Donghae took out a couple of sweet milk buns from his bag, and the older one's eyes lit up.  "Here."

 

"You went all the way to the cafe?"

 

"Hm." 

 

Hyukjae took his first bite and closed his eyes as he frowned. 

 

"So good." he relaxed in the seat. Donghae let him enjoy his moment of peace. He knew he would be all worried again in a minute.

 

"How are you feeling?"

 

"Hm…” he swallowed. “I'm a little nervous. But everything's been going smoothly until now."

 

Donghae nodded.

 

"That’s good. It's gonna be fantastic, Hyuk."

 

"I hope so. I really do," he said softly. Donghae caressed his shoulder.

 

He finished his buns and almost immediately started looking around and bouncing his leg. Donghae laughed. "Just go. I'll see you later."

 

"Okay," Hyukjae looked at his boyfriend for a few seconds while he took a deep breath. "It was delicious. Thank you."

 

Donghae winked at him. "Go. You got this."

 

Hyukjae smiled as he stood up and hurriedly headed out of the waiting room.

 

Donghae walked slowly to the reserved seats, the staff showed him the way he already knew by heart.

 

When the lights were turned off, Donghae felt his heart racing. He knew how nervous those boys were, they were minutes away from performing. He wished he saw them earlier to wish them good luck. 

 

Halfway through the introductory VCR, Hyukjae sat down beside Donghae, startling him.

 

“This is so cool,” he said, making Hyukjae smile.

 

As the concert progressed, Donghae and Hyukjae occasionally chatted, whispering in each other’s ears about the bits they enjoyed the most. 

 

Even if they were exposed to thousands of people, they felt safe there. No one cared about them, everyone was looking at the group performing on stage. The people there were from a younger generation, Donghae was certain that most of them didn’t know who he was... and he felt kinda relieved. Because he held Hyukjae’s hand without being afraid of questioning looks or news articles. Because Hyukjae looked at him and caressed his hair for a few seconds.

 

The concert was ending. Hyukjae’s name appeared on the end credits and he knew what Donghae was going to do. He grinned when he felt Donghae holding his arm and quickly getting closer to his ear. 

 

“That’s you!” Hyukjae laughed at Donghae’s loud voice. Then, some words he loved to hear. “It was amazing. I’m proud of you.”

 

It never failed to make Hyukjae feel all giddy inside. Donghae would always tell him that he was proud of him, that he believed in him. Hyukjae was grateful that Donghae chose to stay by his side all this time. How couldn’t he be grateful? 

 

He looked at his life partner. 

 

“Thank you.”