eleven

The Sweetest Thing
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

 

ELEVEN

 

It is late afternoon when Donghae wakes. He is still on the sofa, leaning awkwardly to one side, neck stiff from having slept sitting up, toes cold on the floor and thigh warm from where another body is pressed up against him.

Donghae gasps softly, eyes widening as he remembers how- who- he fell asleep beside. There’s a huddled shape beneath the blanket beside him, Hyukjae’s head half hidden amongst the cushions at the opposite end of the sofa while his legs are drawn up and warm against Donghae’s. There’s a fluffy orange ball in the small amount of remaining space, Choco having jumped onto the sofa and curled up with them as they slept.

Donghae must make some sort of sound because Choco’s dark eyes open and Hyukjae stirs a little before stretching out more comfortably, one of his bare feet curling against Donghae’s thigh beneath the blanket.

Donghae freezes, heart beating wildly.

What- what is he supposed to do now?

He doesn’t want to wake Hyukjae and honestly, he’s prepared to sit there all night if he has to, so that the other man can rest comfortably. Holding Hyukjae in his arms is fresh in his memory; but so is the way Hyukjae had sobbed and trembled, face hidden against Donghae’s shoulder as the stress and shock of the previous 12hrs finally found an outlet. It kills Donghae that Hyukjae had had to come and literally ask for the comfort he’d been in such desperate need of – Donghae’s own noble efforts to maintain a distance while Hyukjae was so vulnerable doing more harm than good.

He’d held Hyukjae until the other man’s need for a tissue became too great to ignore, and then they’d sat together on the sofa, Donghae clutching the tissue box and saying earnest, stupid things like it’s going to be okay and you can stay here as long as you want!

Hyukjae had nodded and sniffed and wiped his eyes, and Donghae wondered how much he’d seen of the destruction of his little shop, and if he too had been hurt by the hateful words painted outside.

The ruined sweet shop is something Hyukjae will have to confront sooner or later; but not today.

Today Donghae is going to look after Hyukjae as best as he is able, and he’s going to offer hugs, and he’s going to make smoothies that won’t hurt Hyukjae’s mouth, and he’s going to show Hyukjae that he is loved, that he is more than a slur scrawled messily on the pavement.

Unaware of his fierce internal monologues, Choco thinks he’s boring and goes back to sleep. She’s (almost) as cute as her owner, so Donghae picks up his phone to take a photo of her, all fluffy and orange and snuggly.

It’s one of those awful moments when the front camera is unexpectedly on instead of the rear one, and he gets an eyeful of his own weary, sleep-crinkled face instead of the cute little dog, and he almost drops his phone in horror.

He looks like !

He immediately rethinks his decision to sit there for a thousand years so as not to disturb Hyukjae or his precious feet – because there’s no way he’s letting the other man see him looking this bad. Hyukjae had been beaten up the evening before and had cried for half an hour and somehow still looks nowhere near as bad as Donghae imagines himself to be at that moment.

Carefully he slides out from under the blanket and tip-toes towards the bathroom, closing the door quietly then sitting on the edge of the bath while the shower heats up.

He needs to plan! He needs to think! What will Hyukjae need when he wakes?

After night shift, Donghae himself usually goes downstairs to the gym to work out, showers, then has a protein-and-kale smoothie afterwards. He has (or had, since he already fed it to Choco) steamed chicken and green veges, and he has black coffee and three different types of toothpaste, but he cannot imagine the sweet and soft Hyukjae enjoying any of those things. There’s bottled water in the fridge, and a loaf of bread in the freezer (Donghae breaks his no carb rule sometimes to indulge in a guilty toast frenzy) but there’s nothing at all like marshmallows or lollipops. There’s not even any sugar!

He strips off and washes quickly, trying not to think about how Hyukjae is in his apartment while Donghae is (that’s something he’s thought about quite a few times before while in the shower, if he’s honest – although in those hopeful imaginings, Hyukjae is usually and in the shower with him) then scurries across to his bedroom in his towel since he forgot to take any clothes.

He then spends about fifteen minutes laying out various pants and shirts, trying uselessly to create an outfit which is both y, casual, huggable and also sweatpants, then tiptoes to the fridge and opens it, staring at the contents for inspiration.

There’s a little bump and then a clatter of claws on polished wood as Choco remembers her pleasant meal earlier, and trots over in case it’s about to be repeated.

‘Shhhhh,’ Donghae whispers to her. ‘No, Choco, there’s no more.’

Choco whines, practically tap-dancing in front of the fridge.

‘No Choco! Quiet!’

The little dog stares up at him then yaps, sharp and eager. Donghae scoops her up but it’s too late. Over on the sofa, Hyukjae stirs and then sits up blearily.

Or rather, he attempts to sit up. All the tension and bruising from the previous day has settled in, and he grimaces in shock, clutching at the arm of the sofa.

‘Hyukjae!’ Donghae hurries over, still carrying Choco. ‘Take it slow, okay?’

‘Yeah,’ Hyukjae croaks. ‘, feels like I’ve been hit by a truck or something.’

Donghae knows how bad his mouth must taste after the dental work and stiches, and already has a water bottle uncapped for him. Hyukjae takes it and drinks gratefully before shuffling himself slowly into a more comfortable position. Then he looks up at Donghae.

‘Hi,’ he says, a bit awkwardly. He looks around the apartment and Donghae can see he’s trying to put things together, trying to remember where he is and what happened.

‘We’re at my place,’ Donghae says, blinking anxiously. ‘You- uh, I brought you here after the hospital because- because I didn’t know where else to take you, that’s all.’

‘Thanks,’ Hyukjae says, and he’s still looking around. Donghae is glad the curtains are still drawn, since there is probably still all sorts of embarrassing mess lying around. Hyukjae doesn’t look like he’s judging anything though – if anything, he looks a bit startled.

‘Wow,’ he says. ‘This place- wow, it’s um- this is your apartment?’

Donghae looks around too. His apartment isn’t huge, but it’s sort of spacious, he guesses. There’s a lot of open space and marble, and a nice view when the curtains are open. There’s one big palm houseplant and a lot of floor to ceiling windows, designer furniture he didn’t choose himself and – to his horror – a pair of dirty gym shorts halfway under one of the chairs.

‘Do you want to see the view?’ he asks hastily, just to distract Hyukjae before he sees the shorts, and he’s pulling back the blinds before the other man can say anything.

Hyukjae gasps.

‘I didn’t realize we were so high,’ he says, blanket wrapped around his shoulders as he slowly makes his way over to join Donghae. It’s raining outside, droplets pattering against the glass and making everything below look soft-edged, a water-colour painting. The Han River winds its way past, the water reflecting the grey sky, and the streetlights are already on, evening coming early and promising a wet and blustery night.

‘Wow,’ Hyukjae repeats

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
bitterkitty
OMG 2000 subscribers!! thank you so much everyone, for reading... i'm very sorry i haven't updated for so long, i have not abandoned this story! as soon as i finish my (almost finished) studies, i'll be back!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
lety0000 #1
Chapter 27: Ay no! No he dormido en dos dias leyendo este fic sin dejar de leerlo porque me encantó! Y ahora veo que no esta actualizado hace años😭😭😭. Muero de dolor! Por favor actualizalo señora autora!! 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
oliviachan99 #2
Chapter 1: OMG...this is so romantic and the narrative suit Donghae!!
crescentbunni
#3
Re-reading this again because I love how much of a love fool Donghae is around Hyukjae.
And I still get tears from reading Hyukjae’s terrible situation but Mrs Kim is so kind to help him subtly! I hope he does pull through and things will get better for him :’))
mukupriya #4
Please update this fic
Kethryveris
#5
Chapter 27: J'aime tellement cette fic, que je viens de la relire, ils sont si adorable tous les deux. J'espère pouvoir lire la suite. Merci pour ton travail💙❤️❤️❤️
0donghaek #6
Chapter 27: This will be my first time commenting on a fanfic. I hope you'll update this story, I really really like it!!
iykwimimi
#7
Chapter 26: I’m on the current chapter! Aaahh will patiently wait for your next update! Please take care ♥️
iykwimimi
#8
Chapter 14: Please come home. :((((( I cried 😭😭😭😭
dorimu
#9
im so happy that you are going to continue writing this fic
blossomgalz
#10
Chapter 27: It's been a while since I picked up reading all my bookmarked fics on here. Re-read the front few chapters and I just gotta say, I have an inkling that Mrs Kim was specifically instructed to place that huge order from Hyuk by either Siwon or Heechul, but I guess we'll find out soon enough 🤭🤭

Hope you're doing well, author-nim!