Beginnings
Take flight“Yah, newbie!” Donghae looks up meekly from the floor he is scrubbing, scratching his head as the manager of the cafe he just started working at stares at him disapprovingly.
“Yes, boss?”
“There’s a customer waiting for you to take his order, what are you doing?”
“I’m sorry boss!” Donghae wipes his hands on his shirt, bowing his head as he scampers to the counter.
“May I take your order, sir?” He mumbles, eyes glued onto the screen, still trying to figure out how to key in an order. After all, it’s only his third day at work.
“Can I have an iced chocolate?” Donghae looks up at the deep voice, feeling an odd tugging in his heart.
He gasps, the plastic cup he has just taken falling to the ground. He fumbles around, picking up the cup again.
“May I have your name?” The customer pauses, and there’s a glint in his eyes that Donghae is unable to tear his gaze away from.
“Sir?”
Donghae freezes as there are hands suddenly around his own, and he can feel the permanent marker shaking in his grip.
“It’s Hyukjae.”
“Huh?” Donghae stammers.
“My name. Didn’t you want that? Or do you want my number instead?” Donghae sputters at that, pushing the man’s hands away.
“What are you saying?” Hyukjae laughs, ruffling the shorter male’s hair.
“You’re cute.” Donghae blushes, hastily scribbling the man’s name onto the cup and keying in the order.
-
The next few mornings, Donghae finds himself faced with the same strange man who orders an iced chocolate every day.
He is mopping the floor when he hears the clearing of a throat.
“Hey.”
He turns to find Hyukjae staring at him, leaning over the counter. It’s only the two of them in the cafe, business has been rather bad these days.
“Yes? Can I get you anything?”
“Your number.” Hyukjae blurts out, and Donghae finds the tip of his ears burning.
“What?” He mutters shyly.
He looks up when there’s no response, only to find Hyukjae scratching the back of his head nervously, cheeks slightly red as well.
They stare at each other for awhile, not uttering a single word.
Donghae looks away and continues to mop the floor, and Hyukjae feels his heart drop slightly in disappointment.
“Hey.” He looks back up to find a cup of iced chocolate pushed into his hands.
“I haven’t finished my earlier cup yet-” He pauses mid sentence, a grin forming as he sees the tiny numbers scribbled hastily on the cup.
The smaller male has turned away, stacking random boxes in an attempt to hide his red ears.
-
Donghae steps out of the cafe, shivering as he wraps his arms tightly around himself. He runs his hands through his hair, pouting as he glances at the slowly darkening sky.
Ah, its going to rain.
Donghae frowns, and he steps out of the shelter, only to retreat when the first drops of rain fall onto his shoulder, the water seeping through his thin shirt.
He sighs. Why did he have to forget his umbrella? Now he was probably going to have to wait for another hour or so for the rain to stop.
He waits for a while more, biting his lips when the rain only starts to get heavier. He grips onto his backpack tightly, deciding to make a run for it.
Just as quickly as the raindrops hit him, the rain suddenly stops. Donghae looks up to find an umbrella over his head, and a smile that makes his heart melt.
“Where were you planning to go in this heavy rain?” Hyukjae chides. Donghae grins sheepishly, scratching the side of his head.
Hyukjae sighs, wrapping his arms tightly around Donghae, bringing him under the umbrella. Donghae squeals in surprise, but Hyukjae refuses to loosen his grip.
As they walk along the street, trying to avoid the muddy puddles of water, Donghae turns to face Hyukjae, wanting to ask him what he had been doing there, and why he had appeared all of a sudden.
But he pauses before he even utters the first words when he notices that his shoulder is strangely dry. He blinks when he sees Hyukjae’s right shoulder soaked.
“Hyukjae…” Donghae cannot help but utter quietly.
“Hmm?” The taller man replies, focused on steering Donghae out of the way of all the puddles of water.
“It’s… It’s nothing.”
Hyukjae frowns at the answer, but smiles when Donghae leans even closer, his head brushing against his shoulder.
-
Donghae squeals as Hyukjae attempts to stuff the chocolate biscuit inside his mouth, swatting his hands away as the crumbs fall all over his mouth.
“Look at the mess you’ve made!” Donghae whines, wiping at the sides of his mouth. Hyukjae chuckles, leaning in a little closer.
“It’s fine. See?” Before Donghae can respond, Hyukjae has placed a kiss at the side of his mouth. “All clean now, right?”
Donghae’s face flushes at that, and he smacks Hyukjae’s chest lightly. Hyukjae wraps his arms around the smaller boy, bringing him even closer.
“Stop being so cute.” Hyukjae murmurs, looking into Donghae’s eyes. Donghae finds himself falling even deeper as he stares into the chocolate brown orbs in front of him.
“I’m not cute-” He starts to whine, but gasps as Hyukjae leans in to close the gap again. This time, he responds to the kiss, throwing his arms around Hyukjae’s neck, pulling him even closer.
Their picnic basket is left untouched for the rest of the evening.
-
“H-Hyukjae,” Donghae breathes, amazed at the scene in front of him. There are a million stars in the sky, unblocked by any skyscrapers or buildings. It’s just them, and the vast expanse of black.
“This is so beautiful, Hyukjae-” Donghae pauses.
Countless thoughts run through his mind as Hyukjae suddenly takes out a tiny box that has a beautiful silver band in it.
“H-Hyukjae,” Donghae stammers, feeling himself unable to speak, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes.
“Donghae-ah,” Hyukjae whispers, his eyes filled with tears as well. “Will you be my boyfriend?”
-
“Donghae, what are you doing?” Hyukjae walks towards his boyfriend, who is peering curiously at something at the side of the pavement.
“Look at this, isn’t it beautiful?” Hyukjae turns his gaze towards what Donghae is pointing at, and he feels his heart stop for a moment.
“Yeah… It is beautiful.” Hyukjae turns to look at Donghae but pauses when he sees tears in the latter’s eyes.
He pulls the smaller male closer. “It reminds me of you.”
Donghae looks up at that. He is unsure of why a single flower is evoking so many emotions in him. He smiles, wiping at his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.” Hyukjae breathes, staring into the teary eyes. And one of the purest...
Donghae feels his breath hitch at that, blushing slightly.
“Silly.”
-
“Babe, what do you want for dinner tonight?” Donghae blushes at the endearment, still not used to it despite it being one year into their relationship.
“Anything will do.” He replies, finishing up the last of the cleaning.
“Are you left to close the store alone again?” He can hear the disapproving and concerned tone in his boyfriend’s voice and he feels his heart warm slightly at that.
“It’s fine. Ryeowook had to rush off for a date so I told him I would do the closing today.”
“What about our date?” Donghae laughs at the slightly whiny tone, switching off the last of the lights.
“Yah, big baby. Don’t I spend time with you every day?”
Indeed, he had been seeing the older male every day ever since they had moved in together half a year after they had started dating. Everyone around him had asked if they were progressing too fast, but Donghae stood firm. He knew that he had found the one this time.
“You’re right, babe.” He hears the reluctant tone and he chuckles again.
“It’s all right, next week we’ll be on vacation!” Hyukjae nods in agreement at the other end, loosening his tie as he drives. He had booked a getaway to Bali, a surprise for their one year anniversary.
“I can’t wait babe.” Hyukjae says. “I’ll see you in a bit, I love you.”
Donghae blushes at those familiar words that still make his heart beat so quickly.
“I love you too.” He locks the cafe door and walks towards the bus stop to wait for Hyukjae to drive him home.
-
“Babe, isn’t this beautiful?” Donghae nods in agreement, leaning back to admire the clear blue skies and sparkling water.
He turns to face the man whose chest he is leaning on, only to be surprised with a peck on the lips. He whines, pushing the man away when he finds the pair of hands moving down further.
“Yah, not here.” Donghae mumbles shyly, making Hyukjae laugh, hugging him even more tightly.
“You’re so cute, babe.”
Their kiss is interrupted by excited screaming and shouting, and Donghae frowns, looking at the rowdy group of boys.
“What are they doing?” Donghae asks, leaning his head on Hyukjae’s shoulder.
“They’re cliff jumping, it’s quite a popular activity here.”
“Really?” Hyukjae whips his head around at that tone, and he can see the mischievous tone in the shorter male’s voice.
“Babe…” Hyukjae begins warningly, but Donghae cutely buries his nose into the side of Hyukjae’s neck.
“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Hyukjae groans, as he knows that he’s lost once again.
-
“Hyukjae-ah, I don’t think I can do this.” Hyukjae laughs at the shaking boy in his arms who has his arms wrapped around him so tightly.
“Babe, you were the one who wanted to do this.”
“But it’s so high up!” Donghae mutters, clamping his eyes shut again. Hyukjae leans down to press a kiss against the pale forehead, smiling comfortingly.
“It’ll be fine. Come on, hold my hand.” Donghae looks at the outstretched hand, quickly lacing his own with it.
“Are you sure, Hyukjae?”
“You trust me, don’t you?” Hyukjae replies with a smile, squeezing the other’s hands.
As they stand over the cliff, hands laced tightly together, Donghae feels a strange feeling, and it’s as if there are countless memories playing through his mind, mostly blurry, but he can make out a familiar figure in all of them.
He looks at Hyukjae who is blinking furiously, seemingly as taken aback as he is.
They stand still for a while, taking in the view over the cliff, and they can feel the warm rays of the sun that is setting embracing them.
Donghae is brought back to reality by the strong grip in his hands.
You trust me, right?
“Of course I do.”
“Then, shall we fly?”
_______
And this is the end of Take Flight! Thank you to all of you who read this story, and everyone who left comments ;; I really appreciate every single comment & upvote and just one comment can really make my day. I know I still have lots to improve on and I’m glad that there are people who actually like my story even though it’s not the best and lacks a lot. Truthfully I struggled a lot writing this story as it wasn’t my usual writing style haha ;;
Hopefully I’ll see you guys soon in another story :) For now, do check out my other works and thank you for all your support!!
Completed fics:
Take my hand and we’ll search together
10 things I want to do with you
Ongoing fics:
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