hyukjae pulls up at donghae’s dorm at exactly four o’clock.

donghae is, unsurprisingly, already waiting in the lobby, his smile bright enough to light up the world as he jogs his way over to the car. hyukjae notes that donghae is wearing a cap and sunglasses as well as an oversized hoodie. it’s not so much a surprise, as hyukjae has been on the receiving end of many panicked texts in the past month about being recognized on the streets.

hyukjae doesn’t see the problem, but it seems that donghae absolutely hates the attention.

go figure.

“you know that’s going to bring more attention to you than not, right?” hyukjae asks when donghae gets into the car. donghae shrugs.

“maybe,” he says. “it’s my shield.”

“okay, whatever you say, donghae,” he says, but he reaches over and yanks off donghae’s cap, ruffling the other man’s hair. donghae whines a little and ducks out of hyukjae’s touch.

“hyung,” he whines. “stop.” hyukjae chuckles and starts the engine, peeling off the curb.

he drives down the street, passing the university campus back up in the direction of his house.

“where are we going?”

“it’s a surprise,” hyukjae says. donghae pouts and slumps in his seat.

“come on,” he mutters. “i don’t like surprises.”

“you’ll like this one,” hyukjae says. “trust me.”

—

hyukjae muses at how easy it is to satisfy donghae as he watches the other man sip happily on a strawberry smoothie.

then again, he’s a college kid who very rarely eats anything better than cup noodles, so it’s not too much of a stretch.

“where are we going next?” donghae mumbles, his lips still wrapped around the straw as he talks. it takes hyukjae an inordinate amount of effort to pry his eyes away.

“you’ll see,” hyukjae says. donghae stops drinking just to look up at hyukjae and pout at him.

“i told you i hate surprises,” he says.

“you liked this one plenty, didn’t you?”

“hyung!”

“e-excuse me?” a voice interrupts hyukjae before he can respond. the pair look up at once to see a bashful looking girl looking down at them through her hair. “i — i’m a huge fan and i was wondering if i could have an autograph?”

out of the corner of his eye, hyukjae can see red rapidly spreading over the bridge of donghae’s nose.

he takes pity on the poor man.

“sure!” he says. he holds out his hand and the girl scrambles to hand over her notebook.

“sorry,” she breathes. hyukjae gives her a small smile.

“don’t worry about it,” he says. “whatever embarrassment you’re feeling, donghae over there is feeling it tenfold.”

“hyung!” donghae snaps and hyukjae snorts. it does the job because the girl relaxes, chuckling along with him.

“what’s your name?” hyukjae asks as he opens up the book to sign.

“joohyun,” she says.

“that’s a nice name,” hyukjae says automatically. he scribbles a quick message before handing the notebook back to joohyun. the girl looks a little awestruck before she turns to donghae.

“could you also sign it?” she asks. “i’m just — i’m a really huge fan.”

hyukjae swears if donghae is going to turn any reder, he’ll actually combust. donghae blinks at her for a second before snapping back to reality and nodding rapidly.

“y-yes,” he says, holding out his hand for the notebook. joohyun practically shoves the notebook into donghae’s waiting hands. donghae signs the book with shaking hands and gives the notebook back to joohyun with a shy smile. “here you go.”

“thank you!” joohyun says, bowing deeply. “i just — i just one more thing… can i have a hug?”

donghae, to his credit, only hesitates for a second before he nods.

“yeah, sure,” he says.

“thank you!” joohyun says again and leaps forward, wrapping her arms around donghae’s waist. “you are such an inspiration for me. i’ve been figure skating for a while now and seeing you playing is just…”

hyukjae watches donghae relaxes, his eyes going from wide and uncertain to fond. he slowly pats the girl on the back.

“you can do it,” donghae says. “i believe in you.” joohyun pulls back, looking up at donghae with teary eyes.

“really?”

“yeah,” donghae says. “let me tell you, i never would have been anything at all if i didn’t have that one person who believed in me.” donghae looks up at hyukjae at that statement and their eyes meet — donghae’s eyes are glassy and hyukjae can’t stop the warmth that spreads heavily through his chest.

“i — okay,” joohyun says. she straightens and bows deeply again. “thank you for indulging me.”

“no problem,” donghae says. “i’ll look forward to seeing you in future winter olympics, then, right?”

the look that joohyun gives donghae is priceless.

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