“Hyukkie?”

Hyukjae was leaning against the pile of pillows in Donghae’s bed, the plush monkey sitting right on top of Donghae’s pillow next to him. “Hae! Welcome home!”

Donghae threw his bag onto the floor and head-dived into the fluffy bed with a loud “AHHH!”. Hyukjae laughed and put away the book he was reading to lean over and kiss Donghae’s eyelids close. “How was today? Good?”

Chuckling, Donghae bounced back upright and hugged Hyukjae’s waist loosely. “Today’s all better because I’m hugging you.”

“Cheese,” Hyukjae laughed. “I didn’t think you’d have a hard time at work in a candy factory. I mean, candy. Your favourite type of food ever since you were born.”

“Mmh, I admit it’s a lot easier than the other jobs,” Donghae giggled. “What book were you reading?”

“The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. You should read it when you’ve got the time. It’s really good.”

Donghae yawned and peeked at the pages, groaning loudly when he saw hundreds of English words. “I’ll read that only when they’ve got the Korean translation for it. How did that book even get here?”

Hyukjae chuckled softly and pinched Donghae’s cheek. “It was buried under a couple of your stuff. I cleaned up a bit and found the book.” He then showed Donghae the front page, which had his father’s signature and name. “I hope you don’t mind that I read it.”

Donghae smiled and shook his head. “I remember now. Dad wanted me to improve on my English and gave me this book sometime before we went to the fair. I never got around to reading it.”

“It’s never too late to start reading.”

“Yah,” Donghae pouted. He let go of Hyukjae and scrambled to his feet. “I’m hungry. Do you wanna eat?”

Hyukjae smiled and shook his head. “I already told you that I don’t need to eat. Go ahead and make yourself food. I’ll be reading.” He picked up the book and started reading again.

“Don’t you… wanna… come out with me?” Donghae asked timidly. “Since the others can’t see you…”

Hyukjae didn’t give an answer, already engrossed in his book. Donghae frowned softly then decided to take his plush monkey instead. “If you’re not coming with me… then Hyukkie will accompany me. Come on, Hyukkie,” he cooed, tucking the monkey under his arm. “Let’s go get some food. I bought sausages today so we could have sausage ramen for dinner.”

Donghae brought the monkey out to the empty kitchen and was surprised to see Hyukjae right behind him when he turned around. He clutched his heart in fright. “Hyukjae! Don’t scare me like this!”

Hyukjae grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.” He watched as Donghae sat the monkey at the table before getting out the pots and pans to make his dinner. Hyukjae sat next to the monkey and continued reading his book, acknowledging Donghae’s questions of whether he should put in the vegetables or sausages first with a few distracted grunts. “Do whatever you want, Hae. The ramen still turns out fine.”

Donghae returned and placed a bowl of steaming hot noodles on the table. He slid into a seat opposite of Hyukjae. “Is the book more interesting than me?” Donghae pouted. “I can’t believe I’m getting jealous of a book.”

“I could read it to you if you want.”

“No thanks. I’ll pass.” Donghae started slurping up the noodles noisily. He extended his leg out and gently hugged Hyukjae’s thigh. “Pay attention to me,” he whined.

Hyukjae obliged and put the book away. “Yes, Hae. Happy now?” He laughed when Donghae nodded and continued eating. “What do you wanna talk about?”

Donghae shrugged and slurped up more noodles, getting sauce and chilli flakes all