look who's more than a week late

The future is great. There are machines that do your laundry, contraptions that can fly you thousands of feet into the air, and the existence of breakfast cereals are slowly becoming Hyukjae's newest obsession.

But the most important thing about the future? The best part?

One word: the internet.

It's Hyukjae's window to the world. It's how he finds out that mankind has been to the moon, that tomatoes are actually a fruit, and that one can rent something called a bouncy castle for one's birthday. Hyukjae doesn’t know what a bouncy castle is, but it looks like fun and he makes note to bring it up to Donghae later.

But that's beside the point. Today he's not hunting for interesting facts and history to fill his head. Today he's on a mission. A mission to successfully reserve a hotel room.

But he's hit a bit of a roadblock.

"Chanyeol, are you sure this is right? It keeps telling me there's hot singles in my area."

"Oh my god for the last time stop clicking on the ads."

"I assure you I'm doing no such thing."

"Uh huh," Chanyeol says, coming over the sit besides Hyukjae, shoving him over and taking the phone from him.

But Hyukjae grabs it right back, tsking. "You're technically still on the clock."

"So are you," Chanyeol accuses, pointing a finger at Hyukjae's green apron.

"Yes, but you said I could take a five minute break to do this."

"Yeah, five minutes. Not a hour." Chanyeol takes the phone back from Hyukjae. "Just let me do it before you end up booking a room in another country. Or clicking on the damn adds again."

Hyukjae's pretty sure that Chanyeol thinks he's some out of date old man who doesn’t bother keeping up with technology, which is only partly true. Hyukjae's been doing his best to learn the ins and outs of this new technological age, and he's doing a lot better now. So much better that he's managed to plan an entire trip using the internet.

The situation had first started when Donghae had rolled up his sleeves one afternoon not too long ago and told Hyukjae their yard looked like a rotting cemetery and proclaimed that they needed a little more color in their life.

But the thing is, Donghae's allergic to tulips.

He gets this really bad rash all over and he sneezes up a storm just by being in the same vicinity. Hyukjae's had the delightful displeasure of finding out when he had gotten Donghae tulips for their three month anniversary and had to spend the rest of the weekend rubbing anti itch cream on Donghae every thirty minutes and being used as a walking backscratcher.

So Hyukjae, for the life of him, can't figure out why Donghae decided to plant tulips.

Humans are weird. That’s all Hyukjae could think as he had watched Donghae approach the yard like a man on a mission, long sleeves tucked into yellow rubber gloves and a face mask pulled close under his eyes so that his eyelashes fanned against it every time he blinked.

Hyukjae had only been able to helplessly watch from the front porch because Donghae had claimed he didn't want any of Hyukjae's negative energy the life out of his garden.

Hyukjae isn't quite sure Donghae's getting enough sleep these days because something must be seriously wrong with the poor thing.

"It's all about the risk taking. Living on the edge, you know? I've always wanted a garden, and plus tulips are pretty."

"Sweetheart, if getting a rash and scratching like a dog with fleas is your version of risk-taking, then we need to get you out of the house more."

And that’s how it had all begun.

Hyukjae shakes his head at the memory, trying instead to focus on what Chanyeol is saying as he walks him through the process. But Hyukjae's still not used to smart phones, no matter how long he's been using one, and so most of it goes over his head as he lets Chanyeol take charge.

When he's leaving that night, Chanyeol shouts from over the counter, "Have fun! Bring me back a souvenir!"

Hyukjae waves at him, promising to do just that.

When Hyukjae gets home, it's already dark outside and all of the lights in the house are off except for ones in the kitchen where Hyukjae comes in to find a familiar sight.

Over the months, they've developed a routine that is uniquely theirs. Donghae will crunch his numbers and then come back home to Hyukjae doing something weird like warding off fruit flies with a spatula or playing with the light in the fridge. And when it’s the other way around, Hyukjae will grind coffee beans and come back home to Donghae asleep, drooling over a pile of papers, asleep at the dining table, endless amounts of papers sprawled around him with empty cups of coffee to match.

Tonight is no exception and Hyukjae sighs heavily.

Hyukjae’s heart hurts at the sight—if his heart even works, that is. This right here is why he’s been planning this getaway trip in secret for so long. Donghae’s been overworking himself lately, and Hyukjae knows a few days of rest would do him good. Maybe even get him to reconsider the budding tulip garden out front, which is slowly becoming a serious problem. Donghae can barely make it through the yard and out the gate without getting wildly itchy. It’s gotten to the point where Hyukjae’s fantasizes about going out in the middle of the night and mutilating the garden on his own and telling Donghae that it must’ve been the neighbor’s dog. It’s a feasible plan, but Hyukjae’s hoping Donghae can change his mind on his own before Hyukjae has to resort to a life of crime all over a damn tulip garden.

Hyukjae does his best to ease Donghae gently out of the chair and carry him up to the bedroom. He manages to not wake Donghae until he sets him on the bed. Donghae stirs, blinking hard as he looks around then up at Hyukjae.

“Why’re you home so early?” His voice croaks, a clear sign that he’s been out for a while.

Hyukjae sits on the edge of the bed and brushes Donghae’s bangs out of his eyes. “I’m not early. You just fell asleep.”

Donghae groans, rolling over to bury his head into the pillow next to him.

“I have something to tell you,” Hyukjae quietly, trying to ease Donghae out of sleep.

Donghae gives him a calculating look then sighs. “You finally killed someone, didn’t you? I knew the day would come when I’d have to help you hide a body. Was it Mrs. Park? Oh god, tell me it was her. If I have to hear her yell at us one more time for face in the yard, I’m going to kidnap her little walking pompom and dye it pink.”

“Okay, someone clearly hasn’t fully woken up yet.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Donghae scoffs, but at the same time reaches up to loop his arms around Hyukjae’s neck. He pulls him down and kisses him. Hyukjae braces himself on his forearms to better steady himself and kisses him back. It’s a sleepy kind of kiss, lazy and slow, but it works. Donghae pulls away first, but doesn’t let Hyukjae sit up just yet.

“How was work?” He asks, running a hand through Hyukjae’s falling bangs.

“Work was fine. What about you?” Hyukjae asks, but he already knows the answer.

“Horrible. They keep pushing more work at me instead of hiring new staff. It’s bordering abuse. I’m this close to quitting and becoming a stripper.”

Hyukjae laughs, shaking his head. He dips down to give Donghae another kiss. “As much as I would love to support that idea, what I think you need is a little time away from work. And I don’t mean more time at home. We already do that enough as it is. I’m talking about a vacation.”

Donghae rolls his eyes. “Tell me about it.”

“Really? Great! Glad you’re on board because we’re leaving tomorrow.”

Donghae shoots up so fast neither have time to react and Donghae smashes his head into Hyukjae who’s sure Donghae just knocked the vampire gene right out of him.

“Holy ! What the hell!?” Donghae drops back onto the bed, clutching his head.

Hyukjae’s not doing so great either.

It takes a moment before either one of them can think through the pain. Donghae’s first, sitting up rashly, still clutching his head.

“What do you mean we’re leaving tomorrow? With what money!? We ate ramen and canned beans all week because we’re trying to save up for a new table.”

“Would you be mad if I told you I’ve been secretly saving up?”

Donghae sure does look mad. “So you’re telling me you made me eat beans for an entire seven days just so that you could secretly plan a trip?”

“Yes?” Suddenly Hyukjae’s not too sure he did any of this right.

There’s a moment of pause. Donghae looks like he’s cycling through a lot of different emotions. “That’s oddly sweet and horrible at the same time. I mean, beans? I don’t even like beans.”

Hyukjae shrugs, at a loss because he suddenly doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore. “It was the only way I could plan this. If I’d told you, you would say it’s a waste of money.”

“Because it is. We don’t need a vacation. We could just put out some lawn chairs in the backyard and drink a few margaritas. It’s the same thing.”

“No it’s not. I just want to do something nice for you. Is that so bad?”

Donghae frowns, but then looks down at the bed. He sighs. “No… no, I guess not. But the money...”

Hyukjae smiles softly, scooting closer to pull Donghae into a hug. “That’s something you don’t have to worry about this weekend. You just need to make sure you have fun.”

Hyukjae's grumpy little fire cracker is about to have the time of his life this weekend. He’s going to make sure of it.

__________________

It's a three day stay at some fancy hotel nestled on the beach right in front of the board walk. The rooms are huge and the view is great according to the reviews online, and Hyukjae thinks it’ll be worth it.

Donghae’s on edge the entire drive, though, since Hyukjae had decided to leave the trip's destination a secret until the last minute. Since they’d gotten into the rental car this morning, Donghae had been sitting on pins and needles, eyes glancing nervously about, on his bottom lip anxiously.

Despite that, though, Donghae goes along with Hyukjae’s instructions. Donghae’s in charge driving and Hyukjae navigating.

“How much longer?” Donghae asks after two hours when they finally take an exit off the thruway.

“Not much. In fact, it should only be another half an hour.”

True to his word, it’s only thirty more minutes of driving and Hyukjae’s ty navigation skills that they find themselves driving alongside a never-ending stretch of crystal blue ocean.

They had talked about it one night under the dim lights of the kitchen, eating ice cream out of the tub, Donghae sagging against the table, tired but not wanting to sleep just yet.

Donghae had started talking about how everything here was so green. Not that he had anything against green. It was just that he missed the blue ocean water. He told him Hyukjae he grew up in an beach town in a house on a cliff overlooking the beach. A lot of his childhood memories are out there, covered in sand, hair tangled and sticky with seawater, broken shells in one hand and a little crab in the other. Donghae had laughed as he’d shown Hyukjae a little scar on his wrist from when he got bit especially hard by a particularly big, unfriendly crab. He’ d told Hyukjae all kinds of stories about his love for the ocean, and the way he talked so animatedly made Hyukjae wish he can take Donghae there.

It's why Hyukjae doesn't understand why Donghae chose to live here.

Donghae is a walking contradiction, seeming to challenge life with his fists raised, not taking no for an answer. Allergic to tulips? Donghae plants tulips. A lover of the ocean? Donghae buys a rickety old house far away from the ocean.

But that’s Donghae.

Hyukjae smiles when Donghae’s face goes slack as he struggles to split his attention between looking out the window and keeping his eyes on the road.

“No way,” he says when he finally glances over to Hyukjae, the biggest smile on his face, the one that crinkles up his eyes and makes his face glow.

Hyukjae laughs, telling him to keep his eyes on the road, and Donghae turns his attention ahead, although Hyukjae catches him sneaking glances out the window.

When they pull up into the parking lot, Donghae barely puts the car in park before he scrambles out from their rental car and straight onto the beach, kicking up sand and broken shells in his wake. As Hyukjae chuckles and gets out of the car, a pair of tennis shoes and socks are chucked his way before Donghae takes off again, jogging towards the water, hair bouncing with each step, and excited screech alarming everyone to his presence as multiple heads turn to watch a grown man lunge at the water.

Donghae goes in splashing, and Hyukjae can see from all the way here how Donghae’s laughing as his wads knee deep into the water.

Hyukjae lets him be, instead, getting out to stretch, joints popping as he grunts. When he’s done, he goes to put Donghae’s shoes somewhere in the back.

"Hyuk!" Donghae calls and Hyukjae pulls his head from out of the car to see Donghae coming back, already halfway up the beach, waving for him in the distance, urging him to come along too.

But here's the thing. Hyukjae has never quite been to the beach. He has his apprehensions. People weren't exactly taking leisurely trips to the beach back in his day, especially being as far inland as where he had stayed most of his life. Heck, he barely even knew a beach could be so fascinating until he'd heard Donghae talk about it. Of course he's been to the ocean before, but he can't help but think how odd it looks as he scans the scene in front of him. Colorful umbrellas spot the beach in a spectrum of bright polka dots, beach towels laid down everywhere, people stringing up nets to play volleyball, children playing with mounds of sand, and people splashing each other in the shallows of the water.

Donghae seems to notice his hesitance and comes padding back up the beach faster, sand sticking to him all the way up to his knees as he steps off the beach and onto the concrete asphalt of the parking lot.

"What's wrong?"

It seems pathetic to outright say it, so Hyukjae just busies himself with putting Donghae's shoes and socks in the car. "Nothing.”

Donghae squints at him, getting close into Hyukjae’s face and raising an eyebrow.

“You’re a really bad liar.”

Hyukjae sighs, pulling his head back out the car. “I’m just tired is all.”

“Vampires don’t get tired,” Donghae says, hands on his hips.

It’s another five minutes of back and forth before Hyukjae finally decides to sheepishly say, “This is all new to me. I’ve never been to the beach before.”

Donghae’s face lights up again. “You have to go in the water. It’s so much fun, come on!” Donghae says, already pulling Hyukjae away from the car.

But Hyukjae holds him back. “I think we should check into the hotel first,” Hyukjae says, not really in a rush to get covered in sand and sea water.

Donghae frowns, almost pouting. “But I want to go back in the water.”

“I know, but it’ll be much better to set our things in the hotel room first, don’t you think? That way you can actually change into something you can swim in,” Hyukjae says, looking at Donghae’s jeans.

Donghae’s shoulders sag, but says, “Yeah, you’re right,” and goes to help Hyukjae unload.

The hotel Hyukjae had booked was right on the beach so it’s a short walk from the parking lot to the building. Everything inside matches the beach theme: blue and white décor, sea shells used wherever they could be, and paintings of tropical flowers and ocean water were everywhere. It was very fancy.

The two end up padding through the hotel lobby, sand trailing behind Donghae in a snaking path up the plush red carpet, shoes in his hands and suitcases being rolled in on a lopsided trolley with a happy looking Donghae leading at the front.

"We're here to check in," Donghae beams at the receptionist who looks at the sand trail, then at him up and down then does the same to Hyukjae in the back. Hyukjae scowls at her from behind the trolley as a warning, daring him to have an attitude with Donghae. The receptionist seems to get the point because she looks back at Donghae with a forced smile.

"Name please, sir?"

Ten minutes later, Donghae’s sand trail has s through half the hotel as they head down the hall and up the escalator and then down another hall to room 514.

The room is just as amazing as the pictures promised.

It's a large, open floor plan with a giant king sized bed, white linen, beachy, water themed artwork hung on the spare walls, and a small balcony opening up to a view of the boardwalk down below and the ocean right in front of them.

"This is amazing," Donghae says in awe, poking his head into the closest only to pull out and scream, "Look! Little bottles of shampoo! Oo, and it's that expensive brand we usually can't afford."

Hyukjae laughs, setting the luggage in the far corner of the room. He lets Donghae inspect the place in favor of sorting through one of the bags, looking for the swimming trunks he'd bought for Donghae. He didn’t bring a pair for himself because he had the feeling he wasn’t going to be in the water much.

The room might be huge, but there's really only the bed area and the bathroom so Donghae skips back in no time when he's done inspecting. He sits on the edge of the bed with a plop, and from the way Donghae bounces a few times, the bed must be soft and plush. Donghae looks awed, running his hands on the sheet and then bouncing a few more times for good measure. Hyukjae smiles at how cute he looks.

Then Donghae just sits there, looking around the room for a moment, then up at Hyukjae.

"Do you like it?" Hyukjae asks with a smile.

Donghae doesn’t say anything, only pats the side of the bed next to him, calling Hyukjae over. When Hyukjae sits down, Donghae latches his arms around Hyukjae's neck and pulls him close so that they're barely a hair length apart. Hyukjae thinks Donghae's going in for a kiss and tries to do just that but then is thrown a curve ball when Donghae asks with the utmost seriousness, "Did Chanyeol get you into selling drugs?"

Huh?

"Oh my god, are you ing yourself?" Donghae's eyes widen in fear and he pushes Hyukjae away so he can hold him a arm’s length. "Oh my god, Hyuk, all those late hours you've been taking recently. All this time I thought you were being a cute little late night barista with your little apron and that dopey little hat they make you wear, but instead you were out working the streets. Oh my god, my poor Hyukjae's selling his body for money." Donghae lets out the most dramatic dry sob Hyukjae has ever heard. "Don't worry babe, I'll help you out of this. Just tell me who I have to fight."

Hyukjae has no idea what's going on anymore. Did Donghae slip and hit his head in the bathroom? Should he call the lobby? Do they even have health care staff on site?

"Hyuk, answer me," Donghae whines desperately. "How'd you manage to pay for all this?"

Oh.

Hyukjae chuckles, although it comes out a little forced because really? Drug dealing? ion? Something a little more dignified would've been nice. Like bank robbery. Or blackmail. But Hyukjae shakes his head and lets it go. "I've been working later hours at the café so I could save up for this trip."

Donghae pulls a skeptical face.

"Ask Chanyeol."

"At this point, Chanyeol could be your pimp so I don't know how much I trust him."

Hyukjae's caught between the urge to roll his eyes, and laugh. Nothing with Donghae ever goes as expected. "I'm being honest. You’ve been working so hard lately with your new promotion that I wanted to do something nice for you. Something where you can relax. You look so tired nowadays and it breaks my heart," Hyukjae says, lifting a hand to trace a thumb under Donghae's eyes where the eye bag are prominent, fine lines cutting in deep. "It's worrying."

Donghae blinks, finally dropping his hands from Hyukjae's shoulders to ponder, scratching a nail on the threads of the shee