Prompt: Donghae bakes a cake for Hyukjae but accidentally drops it while trying to carry it to the table. Hyukjae laughs until he see Donghae’s tears and spends an hour comforting him.

Donghae smiled. Baking was definitely not his thing, but the decoration was pretty good in his humble opinion. He knew that, as long as it was something sweet, Hyukjae would appreciate it.

After cleaning up the mess he left in the kitchen, he put the cake away in the fridge. 

He went to the bathroom to wash his hands and face, changed his clothes and put on a dark green sweater.

For the past few days Hyukjae had mentioned over and over again a strawberry and chocolate cake that his mother used to make when they were little. 

Strawberries and cream filling, all covered with delicious chocolate paste. He knew why he talked so much about it: Hyukjae's mother was a bit sick and Hyukjae hadn't been able to sleep well. Even if he didn’t tell Donghae, the dark circles under his eyes were evidence enough. 

That's why, that day, Donghae got home as fast as he could after work, put on his apron and with zero baking experience, attempted to recreate the cake.

He figured it would make him feel more close to his mother, to his feelings, and perhaps he would open up a little more if he knew Donghae was there for him.

When he heard the front door open and close, his heart was pounding. His stomach ached. God, he hoped Hyukjae liked the surprise.

He pretended he was cleaning the kitchen’s counter. 

“Here you are,” said Hyukjae who had just entered the kitchen.

“Hm? Oh! Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I was going to get something from the-”

“Why don't you go to the table and I'll bring you something to snack on?” 

“Uh, okay,” Donghae was gently pushing him towards the dining room.

“What would you like?”

“I don't know, something sweet.”

Donghae nodded. Perfect.

He took a deep breath when he reached the kitchen. 

Even he didn't know why he was so nervous. He picked up the cake with trembling hands and walked towards the dining room.

When Hyukjae saw Donghae coming closer with a small cake in this hands, his eyes widened in surprise. 

Donghae smiled at him and focused so much on the older man's expression that he didn't see Hyukjae's briefcase on the floor.

He stumbled.

Luckily he didn’t fall to the floor... but the cake did. 

Donghae just gasped and covered his mouth with one hand, he didn’t know what to say. All he knew was that he felt like his heart just dropped.

Hyukjae didn't understand anything and he couldn't help but let out a laugh at the situation in front of him. 

“What was that? It was a cake, right?” he said, amused.

Donghae pouted at the destroyed cake on the floor.

“Whatever, I'll bring you something else.”

“No, no, wait, why did you do that?” Hyukjae was smiling, apparently Donghae had chosen that random day to buy him cake? 

“Aw, it's all smashed, it doesn't even have shape anymore,” said Hyukjae.

Donghae nodded.

“Yup.” His voice came out shaky and Hyukjae looked at him.

“Wait, why are you crying!” Donghae shook his head and turned around so Hyukjae wouldn’t see his face. 

He was embarrassed, frustrated and tired. He just wanted to do something nice for his boyfriend, for God’s sake. “It’s okay, it’s just a cake, we can buy another one,” said Hyukjae.

Donghae shook his head again and sobbed a little. Of course by watching it for two seconds Hyuk wouldn’t realize it was homemade.

“Donghae…” Hyukjae got up and approached the younger one.

Donghae sniffed.

“I…” he tried to take a deep breath before explaining himself. “I wanted to make the chocolate cake you told me about. 

With strawberries and cream like when you were little. I know you're worried about your mom. I just wanted to make something to make you feel better because we haven't had time to be together but I messed it up. My hands were shaking, that's why... ah, I’m sorry.” 

“Wait, come here,” he walked until he was in front of his boyfriend and held his arms. “You baked me a cake?” Donghae nodded. “My mother's?” He nodded again. “You bought the ingredients, looked for a recipe and even decorated it for me?”

“It doesn’t matter, Hyuk.” 

Hyukjae hugged him.

“Of course it does, you idiot…” Donghae was still shedding tears, he sobbed when felt Hyukjae's warmth. “You've been so busy, I can’t believe you managed to do this with your schedule this week. 

It doesn't matter that we can't taste it, I really appreciate that you wanted to surprise me like this, okay? Thank you, really." Donghae grunted.

"This is so embarrasing."

Hyukjae laughed softly. “I don't even know how you remembered about the cake.” 

“What are you talking about, you've been mentioning it so much lately.”

“Me? When?”

Donghae snuggled against his boyfriend, hugged his waist and leaned on his shoulder. From one moment to the next, Hyukjae felt as if he was the one being comforted. He gulped. 

“This is what I mean, Hyuk. You're so worried about your mother but you don't show it directly. It's hard to notice, you probably don't even realize it yourself sometimes, but you've been more gloomy and sad and I know you have trouble sleeping…” 

He sighed. “I didn't know what to do to cheer you up. That's why I wanted to make a more practical gesture for you, I understand it must be hard to talk about it, I just wanted to let you know that it's okay and that I’ll be here for you.”

Hyukjae his back. 

“Do you even realize how thoughtful you are. Donghae?” he hugged him tightly before letting him go.

Hyukjae caressed his face and, even though he never did such things, he kissed his forehead multiple times. Watching Donghae cry always softened his heart. 

“Let's clean this up, shall we? Then we can grab something to eat and rest on the couch,” continued Hyukjae.

“Hm… there’s actually some leftover strawberries and whipped cream in the fridge.”

“Yum!” 

Once on the couch, Donghae grunted again. Hyukjae hugged his shoulders and kissed his temple. “I should be the one comforting you.”

“Well, you're the one who started crying.”

Donghae hit him softly, smiling. 

“It's just... it was so frustrating, you know? I was so eager to see your expression and when I saw the cake on the floor everything was just…” He made a gesture with his hands, like everything went directly to his eyes in the form of tears. 

“You must be so stressed out.” Hyukjae leaned on his boyfriend's shoulder. “Plus you don’t even know how to bake.”

“Exactly! I tried making it like three times.”

“The kitchen was probably a mess.”

“It was so bad, I should have taken a picture.” 

Hyukjae laughed silently and they stayed there for a few seconds. He took a deep breath and clicked his tongue before talking.

“Actually... yeah, I've been feeling a little worried, about my mom and all. I know she's going to get better, but... it's still a little scary, right?” 

“Of course it is.”

“I feel like I need to be with her all the time, but it's impossible with work and even when I'm doing other things I feel guilty. If I'm at the gym I get the feeling that I'm wasting my time, that I should be with her. 

Because if I was sick I know she would drop everything to take care of me. But I can’t do the same.”

“Hm.”

Donghae bit his lip as Hyukjae continued to describe his feelings. This was what he wanted all along.