“Hyuk?” Kyuhyun treads gently. “Are you okay? You’re really out of it.”

Hyukjae blinks a few times, remembering where he is. He stares at the stack of files in front of him, which he should be submitting to his professor Leeteuk and his other colleagues that are currently in a middle of a research. Unsure of what to do, he bursts out crying right there in front of his bewildered best friend.

“What’s wrong?!” Kyuhyun, now alarmed, holds Hyukjae in his arms. “I’ll call Donghae.”

Hyukjae gasps for breath. “No! No, I don’t want him to worry.”

Kyuhyun frowns. “Okay, but what’s happening? Why are you on a verge of a breakdown?”

Hyukjae clutches Kyuhyun’s shoulder to steady myself. He shakes his head, refusing to say it aloud. “Let’s not talk about it right now.”

Kyuhyun sighs. “Okay, okay, but you got to calm down. We’re offered a huge opportunity with interning, you can’t show that you’re another case for them to tackle.”

Hyukjae laughs lowly.

“There we go,” Kyuhyun soothes. “You bawl like a baby, my god, Hyukjae.”

~

Hyukjae stays out late for the first time without any motivation to rush home. He takes his time, trying to think of anything but Donghae.

It is almost impossible when he’s in Donghae’s car, inhaling his scent, which makes him miss their apartment and their bed, where Donghae’s probably worrying about him, waiting for him…

Hyukjae tries to stop himself from crying but his efforts were put to no avail.

Why do bad things keep happening to him?

Hyukjae rests his head on the steering wheel, trying to think.

Missing….for two years.

Was he hiding? Cheating on his wife?

Hyukjae’s heart tears into two. “But he told me all the details in his life….so vividly…”

“He has children,” Hyukjae sobs. “Men are liars.”

Hyukjae think, think carefully.

Donghae wasn’t a man who hid anything. He was an open book. He reveals his thoughts without filter, he doesn’t even keep a secret.

Dammit, it doesn’t make any sense. He’s been active on social media, and sure he uses a pseudonym, but no one looks for him? What is this ery...

Hyukjae knows Donghae is a good man. He never lied about anything. He would never hurt a fly.

He pulls out his phone, and searches up Lee Donghae. There were few articles of him missing, there wasn’t much. He was from the southern parts of the country, but other than that, nothing lines up with Donghae’s life story. All the similarities stop there.

He scrolls through murals, where people commented good things about Donghae.

They were all talking about another Donghae, not the one that Hyukjae knows. He scrolls down to find more, and he learns that Donghae is an accountant, a dog person, and participates in bake sales and other domestic things that Hyukjae barely recognizes the person they are describing.

Hyukjae jumps in his seat as Donghae’s name appears on his screen. He stares at it, and he throws it into the backseat.

Someone knocks on the window of the car, and Hyukjae starts again, yelling out a loud yelp.

Kyuhyun stands outside of his car, unimpressed.

Sheepishly, Hyukjae rolls down his window.

“What the , Hyukjae? Donghae is freaking out right now,” Kyuhyun scolds. “Did you two fight?”

“No…”

“Then what? Don’t tell me you’re looking for trouble again.”

Hyukjae shakes his head, and pulls out the crumpled flyer to hand to Kyuhyun.

“Oh my god,” Kyuhyun utters out.

“Yeah…”

“He’s missing?”

“Apparently.” A few moments of silence pass between them. “, Kyuhyun. What do I do? He has a whole other life out there. A whole other identity.”

Kyuhyun pulls out his phone, and Hyukjae stares at him, terrified. However, Kyuhyun brings the screen of his phone to Hyukjae’s face.

“He was involved in a car crash two years ago,” Kyuhyun explains.

Hyukjae sighs heavily. “I think...I need to talk to Leeteuk, because if he doesn’t give me anything that can explain this, then Donghae is really a liar and a cheater.”

Kyuhyun presses his lips together, giving his friend a regrettable look. “Think clearly, Hyuk. You’re good at observing people. Don’t let your feelings get in the way.”

Hyukjae feels like his world is crumbling down. “I really do attract the craziest of them all.”

~

The first one came to him like a whirlwind. He was dark and he destroyed everything, but Hyukjae loves the thrill of chasing the wind. He was fast, and he left faster than his father could ever.

The second one danced with death and almost took Hyukjae down with him. He was in need of someone to lean on, and took everything he could get with his greedy hands. He was always hungry for more, and because of his endless tirade with death, he had off the life from Hyukjae.

There were the third and the fourth ones, but they were all proud and seemingly unbreakable. They took what they needed from Hyukjae, and left him to figure things out on his own.

~

That night, when he slipped into the bed, he feels Donghae move around him to tuck him in carefully. He feels Donghae’s giving lips over his temple, his gentle hands and comfortable arms around his body.

Hyukjae closes his eyes, and tries not to cry again.

A/N: He's not cheating on anyone, I think.