TWENTY

‘Did you tell Heechul?’ Donghae hisses into his phone. He’s huddled at the counter of the dark little sweet shop and he doesn’t want Hyukjae, who is still upstairs, to hear.

‘About what?’ Siwon asks, and Donghae can practically hear his eyebrows rising in feigned surprise.

‘That I’m staying at Hyukjae’s!’ Donghae glances over his shoulder. He’d made some stupid excuse to the confectioner about needing to check he had the right shoes for work in the morning and then bolted down to call Siwon. ‘You’re the only one that knows, and now one of his cars is parked opposite!’

‘Um,’ Siwon says. ‘Well-’

‘Ring him again and tell him I’m not a ing child,’ Donghae snaps. ‘Hyukjae saw it and it’s making him anxious, and what am I supposed to tell him? Oh, don’t worry, that’s just my friend’s bodyguards watching your house?’

‘For what it’s worth,’ Siwon says, ‘I didn’t ask Heechul to send anyone, I only mentioned-’

‘Get them to move the car!’

‘I’ll ask if they can move it further,’ Siwon says. ‘Listen though, Donghae-’

‘No,’ Donghae says. ‘I’m going back to bed with my boyfriend, who recently got attacked and beaten, and the last thing he needs is to think his place is being watched!’

He hangs up on Siwon’s placations. He’d tried ringing Heechul first, but the other man has already switched numbers and has not, of course, told Donghae the new one. That hurts enough to make Donghae extra snappy with Siwon and he rests his head in his hands a few moments before heading back up to the little loft apartment. He closes the door quietly. Hyukjae is in bed, but he’s awake.

‘Is everything okay?’ he asks, sitting up and blinking at Donghae in the low light.

Donghae forces his frown away.

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘Just forgot the shoes I wanted to wear to work.’

‘Oh,’ Hyukjae says, brow furrowing. ‘Well, would you like to see what I have? There might be something you can borrow?’

Donghae’s heart hurts because Hyukjae is so kind. Despite being worried and tired, he’s about to get up to start going through his shoes but all Donghae wants is to snuggle up to him to try and recover some of the sleepy post-ic haze they’d been shaken from by the presence of one of Heechul’s cars.

Outside in the street, an engine starts with a quiet, expensive purr. Donghae goes to the window and sees the large black car glide away, taillights glowing red.

‘That car is gone,’ he says to Hyukjae, although he’s pretty certain it has just moved to park somewhere out of sight. ‘Must have been someone visiting your neighbors.’

‘Oh,’ Hyukjae says, sagging back amongst the pillows. He runs his fingers through his still-damp hair and smiles at Donghae ruefully.

‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘I’m- I guess I’m still just a bit on edge. Stupid, huh?’

Donghae slides back into the little sofa bed and wraps his arms around him tightly.

‘No,’ he says, and kisses Hyukjae’s smooth cheek, feeling his lips turn up into a smile. Donghae’s phone buzzes, and he ignores it, kissing Hyukjae again until the other man turns to him fully, his own hands sliding under Donghae’s shirt as he returns the caress. They really need to go to sleep and they both have an early start, but just a few more moments, just a few more kisses-

On her little cushion, Choco sighs heavily and tucks her nose under her fluffy tail in an effort to ignore the soft sounds coming from the nearby bed.

Morning dawns far too soon. Donghae whines and tries to hide under the blankets when Hyukjae’s alarm goes off what seems like minutes after they close their eyes. Hyukjae fumbles for his phone before dropping back beside Donghae with a sigh.

‘Morning,’ he says, voice scratchy from lack of sleep. Bolder in his own bed than when they are in Donghae’s, his arms snake around Donghae’s waist and he snuggles closer, nudging at the other man’s bicep until Donghae shifts, raising his arm so Hyukjae can slip beneath it into a warm, sleepy hug. Donghae lost his shirt sometime during their make-out session the previous night, and Hyukjae’s hair is soft, his cheek warm against Donghae’s shoulder. He runs his fingertips lightly over the planes of Donghae’s chest, tracing the defined muscles until Donghae squirms, ticklish.

‘You- uh, you work out a lot, huh?’ Hyukjae says.

Donghae makes a non-committal sound, although the truth is that he does. He’d started back during university days, trying to keep up with Siwon, trying to make his mom proud, trying to be worthy – and the habit has sort of stuck with him. When he’d moved to Seoul, he hadn’t had much else to occupy his free time either, and he’s maintained his muscular physique; broader now he finally outgrew the slender teen body that had lingered well into his twenties.

‘I should start going to the gym too,’ Hyukjae mumbles, and he sounds a little self-conscious. He’s still wearing an oversized hoodie to hide his fading bruises, and he catches Donghae’s hand before it can slip underneath. Donghae grumbles, discontent, but Hyukjae is already out of bed, gathering his things for a shower. They get ready for work in companionable silence and then Donghae helps Hyukjae carry his carefully boxed sweets and lollipops to the subway. Choco trots along beside them, little orange legs a blur as she does her best to keep up. She’s wearing a pink bandana, leash and harness and Donghae thinks Hyukjae and her are a deadly combo of cuteness; nobody will be able to refuse to buy something from the two of them.

‘See you later?’ Donghae says, leaning in to kiss Hyukjae on the cheek after a quick glance around. He spent the night with the other man, but he still can’t help blushing every ing time he gets to kiss him like this. Hyukjae’s eyes crinkle, and he’s smiling that gummy smile Donghae loves so much, trying to hide how pleased he is.

‘Come here,’ he says, and Donghae leans in again, self-conscious and delighted as Hyukjae’s lips press quickly to his own.

‘I had a great night,’ Hyukjae says. ‘I uh- I want to have more great nights like that with you, Donghae. I’m not made of glass, okay?’

Donghae nods, a bit dazed by the kiss.

‘So,’ Hyukjae continues, and he blinks rapidly, ‘I want to- um, tonight- can I make you dinner?’

‘Of course!’ Donghae says, and he’s so happy Hyukjae wants to cook for him that he doesn’t even worry about what it will be, or how many carbs, or if he’ll need to work out an extra hour afterwards.

‘And,’ Hyukjae continues, ‘Um, Donghae- um, do you want to stay over?’

‘At your place again?’ Donghae asks, and he’s both surprised and pleased.

‘Well,’ Hyukjae says, looking down at the cracked concrete. ‘If you’d prefer your apartment that’s fine too, I know mine’s not much but-’

‘I love yours!’ Donghae starts to say earnestly, but Hyukjae stops him with a gentle grip of his sleeve.

‘No Donghae, listen,’ he says. ‘I don’t care where actually, but since I’ll be cooking I’d love it if you came to my place, and then afterwards- um, if you're ready, and since we’ve already waited a long time, what I’m trying to say is-’

Behind him, the train glides into the station with the familiar push of damp, subterranean air. There’s an announcement and the doors slide open, and then Donghae is anxiously bundling Hyukjae and his boxes of sweets and his little dog towards it. It’s early but seats are already limited and Hyukjae has a lot to carry.

‘Donghae,’ Hyukjae says, and he’s half laughing, half exasperated.

‘I’ll come to your place after work,’ Donghae promises, leaning in for one last quick kiss before the doors slide closed.

‘Think about it,’ Hyukjae says, and then he’s gone, swept away towards the street market, leaving Donghae to walk the rest of the way to work. Donghae drifts back up to street level. It doesn’t even feel like his feet touch the ground, he’s that in love.

Half way to work, Donghae realizes what Hyukjae had been trying to ask him and it’s amazing that he doesn’t implode right there on the pavement from anxiety and eagerness and love and want.

*             *             *             *             *

Siwon pulls into the underground carpark of Heechul’s building.